1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to furniture and, more particularly, to furniture that can be easily assembled and disassembled, and to a method for assembling such furniture.
2. Description of Related Art
Furniture that can be easily assembled and disassembled is known in the related art. Examples of such furniture are provided by U.S. Pat. No. 4,140,065 issued Feb. 20, 1979 to L. M. Chacon (modular furniture); U.S. Pat. No. 4,165,902 issued Aug. 28, 1979 to R. A. Ehrlich (knockdown upholstered furniture); U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,897 issued Oct. 21, 1997 to J. C. Prestia (ready-to-assemble upholstered furniture); U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,767 issue Apr. 6, 1999 to Y. F. Chang (modular sofa); U.S. Pat. No. 6,241,317 issued Jun. 5, 2001 to J. Wu (modular chair construction) and both U.S. Pat. No. 6,367,880 issued Apr. 9, 2002 to A. G. Niederman et al. and U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. US2002/0093235 published Jul. 18, 2002 on behalf of A. G. Niederman et al. (modular upholstered furniture construction). Such furniture—often referred to as modular furniture—provides two basic advantages over conventional furniture. First, it is easier to move than conventional furniture. For example, prior to assembly, modular furniture can be readily moved through restricted doorways, hallways and stairways whereas conventional furniture is often too bulky or heavy to pass easily through restricted spaces. And second, because it requires less space when disassembled, modular furniture is less expensive both to ship and to store than conventional furniture.
However, despite its advantages, there are at least two recognized drawbacks of modular furniture. First, modular furniture typically is difficult and time consuming to assemble, particularly for end users. As taught by U.S. patent application Ser. No. 2002/0093235 to Neiderman et al., assembly normally requires two people to either line up brackets or hold the modular sections in place prior to joining. Second, modular furniture typically is not as rigid as conventional furniture. As taught by U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,897 to Prestia, modular furniture tends “to loosen over time” and therefore is less “sturdy and durable” than conventional furniture.
As a result, there is a need for modular furniture that is easier to assemble and that is more stable and durable once assembled than modular furniture known in the art. Additionally, there is a need for a method of assembling such furniture.
With regard to the related art, the device taught by Prestia bears some structural resemblance to the present invention but differs in at least one important structural respect. While the Prestia device consists of four interconnected components with one component comprising a seat back section, the present invention consists of five interconnected components with two components forming a seat back section. With two components, the seat back section incorporates a triangular structure relative to the seat box and arm frames. This unique triangular structural relationship of the present invention provides both added stability and durability. Thus, none of the above mentioned related art, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the present invention as claimed.